By
Scott D. Parker
Never shrink away from proudly letting the world know you are a writer. Sometimes it might open a door for you.
I started a new job this week and, yet again, it isn’t Full-Time Fiction Writer. Someday. In the meantime, however, I am a…well, it’s a funny thing. You see, the job description used the title “Technical Writer IV” (I love the way that looks; like the fourth movie in a kick-ass movie franchise) but the internal job description uses “IT Content Advisor.” That latter title reads like a high-powered government job or something out of Silicon Valley. Actually, it’s neither. I now work at the main campus of ExxonMobil in Spring, Texas. The project is part of the unified IT initiative where I’m part of a team that consolidates scores of content sources and brings it all under one umbrella. Daunting and challenging, but very interesting. The commute is pretty long—45 minutes in the mornings and 65 in the afternoons; I’ve already adjusted to mental mindset of there’s no quick route—but I started listening to Dan Brown’s ORIGIN so I’m getting by.
What does this have to do with flying that writing banner proudly? It comes down to my resume. When I updated my day-job resume, I debated whether or not to include my writing credentials. By that, I mean my mystery and western novels and stories. I opted for inclusion. In my interview, after all the day-job-type questions were asked, my interviewers asked me about my fiction. It enabled the three of us to have a few moments of informality and ended the interview on a jovial note. I found out this week that the fiction was one of the things that differentiated me above other candidates. My history degrees were also a factor. The clients were looking for something a little different and my liberal arts degree* and creative fiction writing set me apart. Another writer started the same day and she has a behavioral science degree, so we both are not your typical technical writer types.
When I decided to include my fiction, I did so with little regret. My fiction is a part of who I am, and I’m damned proud of the accomplishments. And it helped me get my foot in the door. The pride is just a little bit more now.
So, fellow writers like me who have a day job, I recommend you always put your fiction on your resumes if you don’t already do so. In fact, that’s my question for the week. Do y’all include y’all’s fiction on your day-job resumes?
*The Art of Manliness podcast—one of my favorites; the main website is awesome, too—had an excellent episode entitled “The Surprising Power of a ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Education.” Host Brett McKay interviews author George Anders, author of You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a “Useless” Liberal Arts Education. In the episode, they discuss how creative people often possess skills that can be used in various fields and businesses. I had to smile because it came true for me.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
NaNoWriMo: You Do You
By Steve Weddle
Yesterday, Holly West had some words to drop on you about NaNoWriMo. Last week, Thomas Pluck mentioned considering the push. A couple years back, Scott Parker took a crack. In 2009, Dave White talked NaNoWriMo.
For years, we've had tips and tricks. We've tried and made it, tried and failed. We've upped and downed with the best of them. You can check out the DSD NaNoWriMo thoughts here.
I have some suggestions, in case this helps.
First, sign up. That gets you community and badges and you can snag a discount on Scrivener.
Secondly, tell everyone. Post on FB. On Twitter. A few things will happen. Most folks don't care. Other folks will say "I think NaNoWriMo is dumb." Fine. Whatevs. I dig candy corn. Other people like Air Supply. So what? You use templates to write? You post your word count on Twitter every day? You share your writing playlist? Super. Whatever it takes. Unless you're writing your short story by carving the words into the backs of orphans, who cares? Do whatever it takes to get the words down. When you tell everyone, you'll also get a nice hunk of folks who will hug you. They'll share their NaNoWriMo account names so you can be writing buddies for the month. You'll get support. Tell folks. It's cool.
C, You'll want to listen to the recent Writing Excuses NaNoWriMo podcast. I've recently cancelled my XM subscription so that I can devote my ear time to listening to all the back episodes of Writing Excuses that I've missed. They do great work. Listen to this one & click the heart/like/subscribe.
4th, Have a plan already. If you don't have a plan, get one. A template. A guide. An outline. Something to guide you, so that you can spend your time getting the words down. Writer's Digest has a helpful guide for worksheets and cards and so forth right here. David Hewson has some handy Scrivener templates floating around, too. Those are just some of them. Google around for "novel template" and run. It ain't gotta be perfect, just done. Get to 50k.
Finally, find a way to reward yourself, whether it's each day or each marker. I don't know what you like, but whatever it is, do that for yourself once you hit your word count for the day or when you hit your 5,000-word marks or for each three days in a row that you hit your goal. Whatever. Don't beat yourself up. Whatever you do, you're getting those words down. You're kinda awesome, you know?
By the end of the month you should have 50,000 words. But even if you only get to 23,836, you've got 23,836 words down. Either way you'll need to keep at it. So get to it. We're rooting for you.
Yesterday, Holly West had some words to drop on you about NaNoWriMo. Last week, Thomas Pluck mentioned considering the push. A couple years back, Scott Parker took a crack. In 2009, Dave White talked NaNoWriMo.
For years, we've had tips and tricks. We've tried and made it, tried and failed. We've upped and downed with the best of them. You can check out the DSD NaNoWriMo thoughts here.
I have some suggestions, in case this helps.
First, sign up. That gets you community and badges and you can snag a discount on Scrivener.
Secondly, tell everyone. Post on FB. On Twitter. A few things will happen. Most folks don't care. Other folks will say "I think NaNoWriMo is dumb." Fine. Whatevs. I dig candy corn. Other people like Air Supply. So what? You use templates to write? You post your word count on Twitter every day? You share your writing playlist? Super. Whatever it takes. Unless you're writing your short story by carving the words into the backs of orphans, who cares? Do whatever it takes to get the words down. When you tell everyone, you'll also get a nice hunk of folks who will hug you. They'll share their NaNoWriMo account names so you can be writing buddies for the month. You'll get support. Tell folks. It's cool.
C, You'll want to listen to the recent Writing Excuses NaNoWriMo podcast. I've recently cancelled my XM subscription so that I can devote my ear time to listening to all the back episodes of Writing Excuses that I've missed. They do great work. Listen to this one & click the heart/like/subscribe.
4th, Have a plan already. If you don't have a plan, get one. A template. A guide. An outline. Something to guide you, so that you can spend your time getting the words down. Writer's Digest has a helpful guide for worksheets and cards and so forth right here. David Hewson has some handy Scrivener templates floating around, too. Those are just some of them. Google around for "novel template" and run. It ain't gotta be perfect, just done. Get to 50k.
Finally, find a way to reward yourself, whether it's each day or each marker. I don't know what you like, but whatever it is, do that for yourself once you hit your word count for the day or when you hit your 5,000-word marks or for each three days in a row that you hit your goal. Whatever. Don't beat yourself up. Whatever you do, you're getting those words down. You're kinda awesome, you know?
By the end of the month you should have 50,000 words. But even if you only get to 23,836, you've got 23,836 words down. Either way you'll need to keep at it. So get to it. We're rooting for you.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Master of My Domain
by Holly West
When I first started writing seriously, I devoured every bit of writing advice I could find. Oh, how I loved those Buzzfeed-style lists of tips that, if I followed them, would magically turn me into a bestselling writer. Or, failing that, make writing easier, and hopefully, better.
Now that I have several years and a couple of published novels under my belt, I've kind of gotten over my addiction to writing advice. Not because I'm any better at it than I was when I started, but because for me, reading all those posts became a form of work avoidance, as though reading about writing was somehow the equivalent of actually writing. What began as a source of inspiration and motivation ended up being a time suck. I also got a little bored of it. So I quit, cold turkey.
Recently, however, I've been toying with the idea of tackling NaNoWriMo, which itself is problematic. There's something about the idea of hunkering down for thirty days and emerging with a terrible first draft that makes me all tingly inside. But my issue has never been the ability to write terrible first drafts. I can practically do that in my sleep. It's the revisions that get me. I lack the required focus to revise and polish a manuscript in a timely manner.
In short, I have no business doing NaNoWriMo until this current WIP is finished.
But I digress. The project I have in mind for NaNoWriMo (which I most certainly will not be doing) is a different structure than I've written in the past. Or at least I'd like it to be. Somehow, no matter what I endeavor to write ends up being a "whodunit." Which is okay, because I like "whodunits." They're just so damned hard to write.
All this to say that in my quest to write something a little bit different, I dipped my toe back into the pool of writing advice and found a couple of helpful things. Not that it matters, because I'm pretty sure I won't be doing NaNoWriMo.
Find a Master Work AKA What Kind of Book do You Want to Write?
When I first read this one, I thought, "well, duh." Of course you have to start by figuring out what kind of book you want to write. Usually, this pertains to genre, tone, et cetera, and the standard advice is not to chase trends and to "write the kind of book you'd like to read."
I can get behind that, but this particular tip went one step further and suggested a novice writer find one specific book--a master work (MW), if you will--to help you define what you want to write. I suppose you could also use two or more MWs, the way they do in pitches. Like HORTON HEARS A WHO meets BABY DRIVER, that sort of thing.
Anyway, it's not about cribbing from the MW (this sort of thing is frowned upon) or even following its structure. It's about identifying those elements of the book that excite you, inspire you, make you want to read it, make you love it. Those elements that make you want to take a stab at writing a book yourself. As you write, you'll develop your own voice, style, and plot, but using the MW as a loose guide, especially at first, will help you move forward.
In accordance with this advice, I've identified a master work for my next WIP (the one which will probably NOT be a NaNoWriMo project). I'm not telling you what it is, find your own if this advice tickles your fancy.
Neglect Everything Else
This isn't to be taken literally, unless you have very few responsibilities and almost no loved ones (which kind of describes my life but let's not dwell on that). Recognizing we're all busy, writers are often told to carve out an hour or two each day to write and keep that time sacred. So what this is really saying is neglect everything else during your writing time.
This is definitely useful advice, but I interpreted it differently for myself. For too long, I've been a dabbler. That is, I have my fingers in too many pies. And though it's well documented how much I love pie, I've come to the realization that I need to be more selective in my flavor choices. Limit it to two, or maybe three.
What the hell are you talking about?
Pie, in this case, is all the options life has to offer. What roles do I play? Wife, dog mom, writer, knitter, painter, house decorator, blogger, aspiring fitness model, etc. While I admittedly have far fewer obligations than most people my age, I'm still way too diversified. If I want to achieve my personal goals as a writer, I need to neglect pretty much everything else except for maybe the dogs and the fitness. My husband can take care of himself.
Put another way, I need to do a better job of prioritizing my life. Let's start now. Priority 1: I WILL NOT DO NANOWRIMO THIS YEAR.
(Actually, I will be doing a modified version of NaNo, during which I'll finish revising and polishing my WIP).
But enough about me. Will you be doing NaNoWriMo this month? What kind of planning do you do prior to starting a novel? Do you ever choose a "Master Work?"
When I first started writing seriously, I devoured every bit of writing advice I could find. Oh, how I loved those Buzzfeed-style lists of tips that, if I followed them, would magically turn me into a bestselling writer. Or, failing that, make writing easier, and hopefully, better.
Now that I have several years and a couple of published novels under my belt, I've kind of gotten over my addiction to writing advice. Not because I'm any better at it than I was when I started, but because for me, reading all those posts became a form of work avoidance, as though reading about writing was somehow the equivalent of actually writing. What began as a source of inspiration and motivation ended up being a time suck. I also got a little bored of it. So I quit, cold turkey.Recently, however, I've been toying with the idea of tackling NaNoWriMo, which itself is problematic. There's something about the idea of hunkering down for thirty days and emerging with a terrible first draft that makes me all tingly inside. But my issue has never been the ability to write terrible first drafts. I can practically do that in my sleep. It's the revisions that get me. I lack the required focus to revise and polish a manuscript in a timely manner.
In short, I have no business doing NaNoWriMo until this current WIP is finished.
But I digress. The project I have in mind for NaNoWriMo (which I most certainly will not be doing) is a different structure than I've written in the past. Or at least I'd like it to be. Somehow, no matter what I endeavor to write ends up being a "whodunit." Which is okay, because I like "whodunits." They're just so damned hard to write.
All this to say that in my quest to write something a little bit different, I dipped my toe back into the pool of writing advice and found a couple of helpful things. Not that it matters, because I'm pretty sure I won't be doing NaNoWriMo.
Find a Master Work AKA What Kind of Book do You Want to Write?
When I first read this one, I thought, "well, duh." Of course you have to start by figuring out what kind of book you want to write. Usually, this pertains to genre, tone, et cetera, and the standard advice is not to chase trends and to "write the kind of book you'd like to read."
I can get behind that, but this particular tip went one step further and suggested a novice writer find one specific book--a master work (MW), if you will--to help you define what you want to write. I suppose you could also use two or more MWs, the way they do in pitches. Like HORTON HEARS A WHO meets BABY DRIVER, that sort of thing.
Anyway, it's not about cribbing from the MW (this sort of thing is frowned upon) or even following its structure. It's about identifying those elements of the book that excite you, inspire you, make you want to read it, make you love it. Those elements that make you want to take a stab at writing a book yourself. As you write, you'll develop your own voice, style, and plot, but using the MW as a loose guide, especially at first, will help you move forward.
In accordance with this advice, I've identified a master work for my next WIP (the one which will probably NOT be a NaNoWriMo project). I'm not telling you what it is, find your own if this advice tickles your fancy.
Neglect Everything Else
This isn't to be taken literally, unless you have very few responsibilities and almost no loved ones (which kind of describes my life but let's not dwell on that). Recognizing we're all busy, writers are often told to carve out an hour or two each day to write and keep that time sacred. So what this is really saying is neglect everything else during your writing time.
This is definitely useful advice, but I interpreted it differently for myself. For too long, I've been a dabbler. That is, I have my fingers in too many pies. And though it's well documented how much I love pie, I've come to the realization that I need to be more selective in my flavor choices. Limit it to two, or maybe three.
What the hell are you talking about?
Pie, in this case, is all the options life has to offer. What roles do I play? Wife, dog mom, writer, knitter, painter, house decorator, blogger, aspiring fitness model, etc. While I admittedly have far fewer obligations than most people my age, I'm still way too diversified. If I want to achieve my personal goals as a writer, I need to neglect pretty much everything else except for maybe the dogs and the fitness. My husband can take care of himself.
Put another way, I need to do a better job of prioritizing my life. Let's start now. Priority 1: I WILL NOT DO NANOWRIMO THIS YEAR.
(Actually, I will be doing a modified version of NaNo, during which I'll finish revising and polishing my WIP).
But enough about me. Will you be doing NaNoWriMo this month? What kind of planning do you do prior to starting a novel? Do you ever choose a "Master Work?"
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